Despite the difficult obstacles brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, early voting rates are abnormally high. According to the United States Voting Project, the turn-out rate in the 2016 election was only 60.1 percent.
Although the number of voters casting their ballots is already on track to surpass the 2016 votes cast, there are still plenty of people who can not vote for a number of reasons; however, some Kern County residents who are unable to vote are making a difference in this election.
Considering what McFarland has gone through this year — with the City Council voting to allow GEO to operate in my hometown — the McFarland City Council race might be one of the most important races in Kern County.
With Election Day just days away, the Kern County Elections office continues to receive ballots at higher rates than precious years, officials say.
Last year the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Southern Poverty Law Center challenged the policy that forces asylum seekers to remain in Mexico.
“Prior to the fights, it was a very peaceful protest,” a Bakersfield Police Department spokesman said of a local Breonna Taylor vigil in late September.